House committee advances multiple agriculture, land-use and water measures; hearings on well and water-right fee increases draw opposition

The House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water met Monday morning, March 31, for a series of work sessions and public hearings. The committee approved amendments and recommended multiple bills to the floor with referrals to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, and held public testimony on fee increases proposed by the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD).

The committee advanced House Bill 2730 (beginning farmer and rancher incentive program), House Bill 2950 (amendments to Oregon's public involvement land-use goal), House Bill 3010 (Spanish-language pesticide education appropriation to Oregon State University), House Bill 3103 (sustainable timber harvest rulemaking), House Bill 3587 (rocky habitat management site plans), and House Bill 3786 (ocean science competitive grants). Each was amended in committee and moved to the floor with a due-pass recommendation and prior reference to Ways and Means where applicable.

Those work sessions were followed by public hearings on three fee-related bills: House Bill 2808 (proposed increases to the well construction program fees), House Bill 2165 (a one-time general fund allocation to support well construction and compliance staff), and House Bill 2803 (proposed increases to water-right transaction and dam safety fees). Witnesses representing the well-drilling industry, groundwater associations, irrigation districts, and agricultural groups urged caution on large fee increases and recommended a greater share of general-fund support for programs that inspect wells and process water-right transactions.

"The fee increases proposed are 40% for start card fees and 10% for well driller licensing and landowner permit fees," Director Ivan Gall of the Oregon Water Resources Department told the committee when describing HB 2808's package and its projected effect on staffing and service levels. He said the star-card revenue supports about 9.8 FTE for the well-construction program and that unfilled shortfalls would force a reduction of roughly six FTE in the 2027-29 biennium.

Industry witnesses objected to using only fee increases to cover ongoing program needs. CJ Nugent of Nugent Drilling Company testified, "I am not opposed to any of them except for the star card fee," arguing an additional start-card increase could disadvantage compliant drillers and widen the gap with…